Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

A few hours later, with the farewell of the people of Yizhou, the Royal Guards set out again with tens of thousands of troops, except for some soldiers who stayed behind to maintain law and order.

Although the march was boring, Zhang Shikang had basically ridden a horse before. But this time, for some reason, he chose to ride in a carriage, and only allowed his wife Ma Lingqi to ride with him. Even the crown prince Zhu Cilang was not allowed to ride in the carriage.

Not only that, Zhang Shikang also ordered his subordinates to prepare pens, ink, paper and inkstone. No one knew what the Grand Marshal was going to do, and they only heard Zhang Shikang's voice occasionally coming from the carriage.

They can occasionally hear words such as "Earth's solar system" and "periodic table of elements", which they have never heard before.

At first, Zhu Cilang and Sun Weifan were interested, but after eavesdropping for a while, they found that it was like listening to a foreign language, so they stopped paying attention.

In the carriage, Ma Lingqi was quickly recording what Zhang Shikang said, but it was obvious that she had no idea what nonsense her husband was talking about.

Well, she really thought it was all nonsense, because her husband actually said that the place they were in was a sphere. Even the teachers in Shiqu knew that the sky was round and the earth was square.

But as soon as she interrupted, Zhang Shikang would hit her on the head, so no matter what Zhang Shikang said, she just recorded it honestly.

Three days later, the army arrived at Guangning Wei.

Zhang Shikang originally thought that it would take some time to bombard Guangning City, but when the army just arrived outside the city, they saw that the gates of Guangning City were wide open.

Several guys in official uniforms were standing outside the city gate. The old man in the lead was holding a square box in his hand. Behind him were several people in armor, who should be the generals guarding the city.

Further behind them was a group of brave Liao people. Compared to those frightened officials and generals, these brave Liao people had excitement on their faces.

Zhang Shikang roughly knew that these guys were asking for surrender.

Although the defense of Yizhou City was not brutal, it was only relative to the Imperial Guards. The deterrent power of one hundred heavy artillery pieces was still sufficient.

However, the first meritorious person who voluntarily surrendered Guangning City must be attributed to Liu Wenbing, the commander of the Jinyiwei.

As early as three days ago, Liu Wenbing secretly sent people to Guangning City to spread news about the Battle of Guanshan and the Defense of Yizhou City, and emphasized the consequences of Geng Jimao and Shang Zhixin's stubborn resistance.

As a result, the people in Guangning City were in panic. Some believed it, while others did not. It was not until several defeated soldiers who escaped from Yizhou City came to Guangning City that the officials in the city finally lost all confidence in resisting.

When they arrived outside the gate of Guangning City, Zhang Shikang ordered the army to stop. He himself, protected by his personal guards, stepped forward a few steps on his horse but did not dismount.

The official holding the box trembled and knelt on the ground, and the people behind him also knelt on the ground:

"I, the guilty Guangning County Magistrate Sun Shengzhi, surrender. All county officials and garrisons are here. I beg you, Marshal, to spare our lives."

As he spoke, the official opened the box, and inside was the seal of the Guangning County Magistrate.

"The six defeated soldiers in Yizhou City were all captured by this guilty minister." As if to seek credit, the official waved his hand behind him, and soon six people who were tied up were brought up.

Zhang Shikang turned his head and glanced at Liu Wenbing, who immediately understood and walked up to Zhang Shikang's horse and whispered:

"This Magistrate Sun was a scholar born during the reign of Emperor Tianqi. He had no great talent or political achievements, but he also had no record of committing murder or robbery.

However, the garrison commander often oppressed and exploited the people.

And that county magistrate is not a good person either.

However, the above information is only the result of a simple investigation by the subordinates. As for the details, it still requires your consideration."

Although Liu Wenbing never participated in the battle throughout the war, he was always very busy. Even during the army's rest period, the Jinyiwei's cavalry shuttled around day and night, gathering news from all over the place and sharing important military intelligence with Zhang Shikang.

After listening to Liu Wenbing's report, Zhang Shikang had an idea in his mind and he nodded at Sun Dasheng.

Sun Dasheng immediately dismounted and drew his sword. In front of Sun Shengzhi and the people, he decisively killed the six Yizhou fleeing soldiers one by one, and then returned to Zhang Shikang without blinking.

The gushing blood really scared the people present, and the surrendered officials began to tremble.

Zhang Shikang then looked at Sun Shengzhi again, and cold sweat immediately broke out on the other's forehead.

"The official is dismissed from his post, but the seal remains. The rest will be forgiven."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Shengzhi immediately breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed to Zhang Shikang again.

The others behind him thought they had been pardoned as well, and they all looked relieved.

As long as you can survive, everything else is easy.

Sun Shengzhi stood up, and the others were about to stand up as well, but they heard Zhang Shikang say:

"I was talking about Sun Shengzhi, not you."

The voice was so cold that those people shuddered and quickly knelt down again.

Killing them all without distinction would obviously arouse the will of the surrounding county defenders to resist, but pardoning them all was not in line with Zhang Shikang's principles. After a little thought, Zhang Shikang turned his gaze to the people of Guangning City:

"Fellow villagers, what do you think? Are these people guilty?"

The people were shocked when they heard this. Most of them just came to watch the show, and they never thought that the majestic young general would ask them questions.

Everyone was startled, but the silence did not last long before an old woman boldly said:

"General! That guy named Wang Cheng raped my daughter. Please help me, General!"

After the first one, there was a second one. At once, more than a dozen people spoke up and held those officials and generals accountable.

These people are all native locals, and Guangning City is not big. No one knows what is happening in the city better than these natives.

With everyone talking at once, the actual crimes of those people were soon confirmed.

Wang Cheng was frightened and angry, and he used his authority to wait for the crowd and said:

"How dare you talk nonsense? Just wait, I will never let you go!"

After that, he began to argue with Zhang Shikang, but Zhang Shikang was too lazy to pay attention and just smiled and said to the people:

"According to the Great Ming Law, Wang Cheng should be executed, and the others should be punished with military canes.

But I'm short on time. Is there anyone brave enough to come and help me with the torture?

Oh, it means come over and chop him up."

As soon as these words were spoken, the group of people were frightened again.

However, the Liao people did not let him down. After a while, a strong man came out limping. It was said that his leg was broken by Wang Cheng.

Immediately, a soldier threw a knife over, and the man picked up the knife and was about to stab Wang Cheng.

Wang Cheng was so scared that he almost peed his pants. He collapsed backwards, dodging and begging for mercy.

At this time, more people asked to join. Most of them had been bullied by Wang Cheng. Under Zhang Shikang's instructions, these people quickly started to surround Wang Cheng with knives.

The scene was chaotic for a while, and there were even cheers.

In a very short time, Zhang Shikang won the support of the people of the whole city, and he even took command.

"Yes, poke his butt!"

"If you stick your head out, you'll get stabbed once. If you hide your head, you'll get stabbed countless times. You might as well be decent."

"You bastard, I won't let you go even if I go to hell!"

"You bastard, take my sword."

"Oh--"

……